For over a year now I’ve been in a period of solitude. I think it’s important to distinguish between the concept of solitude from loneliness as it can be misunderstood.
No distractions
No more phone calls, text messaging, social media, and news. I’m existing in my own world. For me, the benefit of solitude is the period of reflection, creativity, thinking, reading, writing, walking, fitness, health, and focusing on things that I really care about without the distractions from the outside world.
Disconnected?
Maybe being disconnected isn’t so bad after all. You may call it isolation or loneliness, but I say it’s bliss. I think it’s possible to be disconnected and connected at the same time. When I walk in the city, I still interact with the janitors, security guards, shop owners, and people on the street. I like having conversations with security guards because they are usually politically incorrect and speak from their heart and real experiences. After all, it’s our direct experience that truly matters at the end of the day. No amount of news or distractions from social media, telling me what’s going on in the world actually affects me. The lives of the people around me and their stories are much more fulfilling for me to listen to.
Solitude allows me to thrive creatively.
Maybe loneliness is when you feel sad, depressed, or overly emotional while in a period of solitude. For me, this is far from how I feel. So perhaps this is where the difference lies between the two ideas. Solitude allows me to thrive creatively, whereas loneliness is a self-destructive state of being.
Off the grid
Ultimately, I find myself in this period of solitude to be extremely beneficial. I think most men should learn to thrive on their own. It hardens you and makes you a stronger person. Perhaps this is more difficult to achieve with the constant connectivity that we face in this modern world. I’ll never forget my time as a peace corps volunteer living in a remote village in Zambia, Africa. I think this was the most happy I’ve ever been in my life. It’s probably because of the lack of Internet connection. It was just me and a real community that was actually connected to each other. I was really off the grid.